


Comptines de la veille (Songs of yesterday)

by slkdfowiejsdxk (BottomBitchBarnes)



Series: The Adventures of Barnes and Noble [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Internalised Homophobia, M/M, Steve just wants Bucky to be okay, bucky thinks he's broken, goddamnit steve, nonagenarians, songfic ish, steve thinks he's even better than before
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-08 09:01:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1934865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BottomBitchBarnes/pseuds/slkdfowiejsdxk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>basically, Bucky's getting bored of old swing. So's Steve. Steve finds new swing that reminds him of Bucky. Bucky finds rock n' roll and sappy Beatles songs that make him think of Steve. (The title isn't an exact translation, it's supposed to be "Rhymes of yesterday" in English, but that just doesn't sound right. Neither does "Chansons de la veille", at least to me.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Firsts

Steve first noticed one night when he was getting up for a glass of water. His bed was still too soft, so he had taken to sleeping on a foam mattress pad on the floor. As he was passing Bucky’s room on their shared floor of the Avengers Tower, he paused, wondering if he should ask if he needed anything. He listened at the door, before realising that Bucky was listening to music. At half-past three in the morning. he smiled, confused. “Hey, Buck, need anything?” he called through the door. The music stopped, and the light that was coming through the crack under the door went out. “No, thanks, Steve,” came the quiet reply. “Alright. Get some sleep.” “One to talk, punk.”

 

* * *

 

The next time it comes up, they’re in the common space, watching _I Love Lucy_ reruns. “Hey, Barnes, how’d you like that album I lent you?” Clint asks Bucky, walking behind the couch with a glass of orange juice. “I think it was a bit out of my league still, but thanks, Clint,” Bucky replied. “I liked _Girl,_ though,” he gave him a bit of credit. “And _Michelle._ ” Clint smiled. “Maybe try _Beatles For Sale_ , next time. _Rubber Soul_ was a bit of a long shot, even for me,” he suggested, sniggering at his own joke. “I loved those albums,” Steve said, a look of confusion crossing his face. “You trying to get into newer stuff, Buck?” “Well, there seems to be a shortage of swing.”

 

 

* * *

 

So Steve makes him a “Mixed Tape,” whatever that means, of  the new swing he’s been finding (Thanks mostly to Natasha, who, though she’d brush it off anytime anyone thanked her, was one of the most thoughtful people Steve could remember meeting.) He mixed in some old favourites, Sidney Bechet and Benny Goodman, as well as Caravan Palace, Alice Francis, and the Electric Swing Circus, among others. There were an overwhelming number of love songs, but this was what Steve listened to- and admittedly, the songs made him think of Bucky. So, in they went. And when he had gotten it perfect, he went out and got a little clip-on “iPod” to put it on (Was there a tiny gramophone inside? How did all that music fit?), and slid it under Bucky’s door one night with a pair of “earbuds.”

Bucky listened to it for about two weeks straight, the same 15 songs on repeat, burned them into his memory.

 

 

* * *

 

But then, Bucky’s memory started to come back. The first time he knocks on Steve’s door, they don’t go back to sleep the whole night. They just sit up, listening to both new music and old, with newly-strong arms wrapped around a shivering frame, and it feels strange, Steve being the one keeping Bucky safe. But neither one is complaining, and if Steve presses a few soft kisses to the back of Bucky’s neck, nobody else is the wiser. They don’t say much that first night, just soft, reassuring words to keep the demons out. But both of them remember Brooklyn, when Steve was the one needing protection, and Bucky kept him safe and warm.

 

* * *

 

The second time, Steve went to him, heard his half-muffled scream. He knocked softly before he went into the room, kneeling in front of Bucky where he crouched on the floor beside the bed. “Hey, jerk,” he murmured before Bucky launched himself at him. He buried his face in Steve’s shoulder, soft sobs wracking his chest. “Hey, shhh, it’s okay,” he mumbled into too-long hair. “They can’t get you now, they’d have to go through me first. I’ve got you, Buck, you’re safe now,” he tried to soothe his best friend. “They were gonna take you away, Stevie,” Bucky sobbed. “They were gonna erase you ‘till I had nothing left to hold on to.” Steve held him a bit tighter. “It’s okay, I’m here now, they’re not gonna get us. I promise, Buck. You and me, ‘till the end of the line, right? I’m not gonna leave you again, not now, not ever, I promise.” Bucky drifted off in his arms, hiccuping softly and pressing little kisses to his neck like he wasn’t sure he was really there. Steve lifted him up onto the bed and fell asleep curled up against his back, still mumbling reassurances in his ear.

 

 

* * *

 

After a few weeks, they notice Tony making a few comments- nothing too hurtful, just remarks, really, but then Clint starts up too. Calling Steve "Mrs. Barnes," and referring to the pair of them as either "the newlyweds" or "Barnes & Noble"-  or, more recently, "Captain Starbucks"-whatever that meant. In any case, Steve didn't like it. Bucky had always been a bit harsh toward himself after he figured out his feelings for Steve, called himself a 'queerie,' and he had just started to come to terms with the fact that it really was okay now; it wasn't illegal, in fact they could get married right here in New York if they wanted.

But Bucky hadn't asked, and Steve didn't push. It had been 81 years since their first kiss, or the first one Steve counted, anyway. It was a week after his mother died, and he had pneumonia. They were just kids, really, only fifteen, but it felt like it was his fault- he had caught the flu, and passed it on to her; it progressed to pneumonia from there. Now he was sick, orphaned, and generally miserable, and as he curled up against Bucky's chest, he had thought aloud about how it should have been him.

"You look at me, Stevie." Steve looked up, watery blue eyes pierced by icy ones. "Don't you _dare_ ever say that, punk." He kissed him on the mouth, gently, the way you kiss somebody to make them know they're loved and wanted. "If you went off the deep end, you know I'd be falling right in after you. You know that." "You wouldn't dare, you jerk," He had replied, but smiled weakly anyway. Bucky kissed him again, softer this time, but with the same sentiment. "Boy, I sure do love you, Stevie. Hope my mother doesn't mind if I marry a fella someday." Steve hit him as hard as he could at the time (not very hard) and mumbled, "shut up, you've got dames drippin' off you, Buck. What would you want with a punk like me?"

 

* * *

 

Steve smiled fondly, remembering what it was like before the War, before the ice, before they thought they couldn't have each other. They hadn’t kissed in 75 years, and Steve missed it. He hummed _St. James Ballroom_ absently as he stirred the soup he was making for the team. Nothing fancy, just ham and split pea- with a meat- free version for Bruce, who was vegetarian. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt arms wrap around his waist, one flesh, one titanium. "What'cha makin' there, punk?" Bucky asked as he nuzzled the space between Steve's shoulder blades. "Don't you talk to me that way or you won't get any, ya jerk. It's pea soup, Peggy found my mom's old recipe when she was looking through old photos last week." “Mm, knew it smelled like home.”

 

* * *

  
Bucky had always sung while he read. Steve wasn’t sure he even knew he did it- but it was Steve’s favourite thing in the world. He had so many sketches of Bucky curled up with a book, whole sketchbooks dedicated to his smile, the way it touched his eyes. And for every rough little sketch, there was a date, a time, and a song title. This time, though, Steve didn’t recognise the song. “Hey, Buck?” Buck looked up from his book (the Silmarillion by Tolkien) in response. “What was that song you were just singing?” “ _I’ll Cry Instead_ by the Beatles. Surprised you didn’t already know it, you’ve been drinking their stuff up.” Steve wrote the title in the corner with the date. “Watcha writing, punk?” Bucky asked, scooting over to the other side of the couch and peering at the sketch. Steve heard all of the air rush out of his lungs in awe. “Is that- Is that me?”  Steve felt the blush creep across his cheeks and started to hide the sketch, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, it’s just- You looked so- So happy, s’all, and I- I just-” but his spluttering was cut off as Bucky snatched the sketchbook away, flicking through the contents. “They’re all- They’re all me,” he said, confused. “I know your face best,” Steve said softly, and Bucky got the hint too late. He cleared his throat and closed the notebook, handing it back to Steve. “They’re really good, Stevie,” he said before retreating back into his book, singing a new song Steve recognises from the radio.

 

* * *

  
Steve hears it on the radio a week later, and he nearly cries. It's called _Say Something,_ and he decides he has to learn it, has to sing it for Bucky. “Hey, Stark,” he approaches a couple of days later when he sees a window. “Do we still have that guitar? The acoustic?” Tony thought for a minute. “No, we sold it in the auction for that orphanage last Christmas. But I’ve got my dad’s old Stella, if you need a guitar. It’s just at my house, I’ll bring it over tomorrow. What do you need it for, anyway?” “There’s a song I heard, and I want to learn it. Y’know. Also, Tony, can I please ask you to not do the whole nicknames thing around Bucky? I’m fine with it, and I’ll admit we’ve been… Together. Before. But Bucky has a really hard time coming to terms with this whole thing, and… Things have been hard enough on him anyway. I just don’t want to see him run off or something, thinking he’s not welcome.” “Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t know it had that much of an effect on him. I’ll tell Barton to lay off, too.” “Thanks, Tony.”


	2. Derby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barnes & Noble teach the rest of the team about Roller Derby. Other stuff happens too, but it's not as important.  
> Please comment! I need input! If anybody speaks Russian, I would appreciate corrections on the fragments in this and later chapters- I'm just using Google Translate.

Bucky burst into the common rec room one morning, wild-eyed and grinning. “Steve! You’ll never guess what I found!!” he practically yelled in his excitement. “What is it, Buck?” Steve asked, taking a sip of coffee. “Roller derby! Real roller derby! With dames knocking each other out and everything! It’s on a flat track now, and they wear all this armour, but it’s roller derby!” Steve spit his coffee all over the newspaper he was reading. “Shut up! No way, I thought that went extinct!” he spluttered, almost as excited as Bucky. “Sorry if I’m not keeping up with you two geezers, but what exactly is ‘roller derby’?” Tony asked , taking a bite of his nutella with toast. “Only the best sport ever invented!” both of the nonagenarians cried at once. “It’s like rugby on wheels!” Steve said. “And only dames play, so if you’re into that sort of thing, that’s a bonus,” Bucky added, earning himself a Look from Steve and Pepper. “ _If,_ ” he repeated. “Basically you just get to watch them beat each other up, it’s fantastic,” Steve said. “When’s the bout, Buck? I think we need to educate the team.”

  
At the bout (the Albany All-Stars vs. the Hudson Valley Horrors), the avengers took Suicide Seating. “Awe, Buck, remember Birmingham? The Blitz Dames, they were _indestructible!_ ” “What are you talkin’ about, Stevie, the Seaside Sirens were the queens in England. It’s just a shame the Brooklyn Babes didn’t survive ‘till now.” “Yeah.” After the gear check,  the players were called out. The crowd cheered for some and booed for others while the announcer explained the rules of the game. _“Now, for newcomers, the rules of the game might be a little confusing,”_ his voice crackled through the PA system. _“Can we have the pack raise their hands, please?”_ four players from each side raised their hands. _“Now these lovely ladies’ jobs are to prevent the jammer- that’s the girl with the star on her helmet panty- of the other team from getting through. they can hip or shoulder check her or the other team’s blockers, but no hands or feet, right ladies?”_ the teams booed. _“Sorry, ladies, them’s the rules. The pivots, those are the girls with the stripes on their helmet panty, are there to lead the pack and warn them when the jammers are coming. After the first lap, every team member a jammer passes is a point for her team. Starting positions!”_  The whistle blew and the Jammers fought their way out of the pack. _“Morning Gory, lead jammer!”_ the VA announced, the ref pointing at the Horrors’ jammer with one arm up. Steve and Bucky punched the air and whistled loudly. The jammer circled past three times, getting 12 points before she called off the jam. There were another ten jams in the bout, and it turned out Steve and Bucky had picked well- the Horrors won 206-57.

  
Steve and Bucky laughed the whole way home, remembering the time their mothers found out about them going to a game. “Oh, man, Stevie, your mom was so angry! I was worried she’d hit you over the head with that rolling pin of hers!” “One to talk, your mom pulled you by the ear the whole way home!” The rest of the team apart from Thor*, though they had enjoyed the game as much as they could, what with the pair of them shouting “Foul!” every five minutes, didn’t really see the big deal about roller derby. But they let the two geezers have their fun.

 

* * *

Something changed the next time Bucky’s nightmares came back. As they curled up on the foam in Steve’s room, Bucky shifted a bit closer and kissed just under Steve’s jaw. “Gosh, I love you, Stevie,” he murmured, lips still brushing his skin. “Gonna have to make an honest man outta you one of these days.” Steve’s heart leapt, and he kissed the top of Bucky’s head. “I guess so,” he replied. “Love you too, Buck.” They held each other close, humming whatever songs came to mind, and that night, the nightmares didn’t come back.

 

* * *

Natasha was, of course, the first to notice. “Поздравляем, Джеймс, он очень повезло**” she whispered in Bucky’s ear as she passed him one morning. Bucky blushed and whispered “Я считаю, повезло иметь его, Наташа***,” back. Steve blinked in confusion, but let it pass. Then Clint noticed, and punched Steve on the arm in a ‘Score, bro’ kind of way, only to injure his hand on Steve’s bicep. Tony just wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, earning him a punch each from Pepper and Natasha.

 

* * *

Bucky bought an electric guitar and amp one day, to everyone’s confusion. It was a cherry-red Stratocaster, just a stain and lacquer on the wood instead of the paint they usually used. When Steve asked him about it, he replied, “I heard you practicing the other night, and I thought I should learn, too. There’s this song I want to learn, I thought maybe you could help me.”  “Yeah, sure, what’s it called?” “Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. It’s a bit- well, I guess you’ll know what I mean when you hear it. But I want to change it so it’s not so- rough.”

  
So they learned it together, altering it where it didn’t work, working out new harmonies when one of them couldn’t sing the part quite right. When they had gotten it perfect, they recorded it and added it to their growing collection of favourite songs.

 

* * *

When Bucky finally proposed, they were in the middle of battling Loki for what felt like the 12th time that week: This time his army consisted of a swarm of tiny, fairy-like aliens keen to bite a chunk of flesh out of anything they could get their teeth in. “Man, my mom was wrong about the Fae,” Steve had remarked, killing about 20 of them with his shield. “Marry me, Rogers,” Bucky had called from the roof he was sitting on, shooting at the devils. Steve laughed and shook his head. “Not today, Barnes,” he replied.

 

* * *

Bucky had just jumped in front of a bullet aimed at Steve. Steve caught him as he fell, already feeling violently ill, and Clint took out the sniper before he could re-aim. “Bucky! Bucky, come on, stay with me, please,” he begged, feeling the panic rising inside him. _“Steve, get him back to the tower, he needs medical attention. We’ve got this,”_ Tony insisted over the comm. “Hey, Buck, stay with me, alright? Talk to me, just stay awake, please. I’m gonna get help, come on,” and he lifted him as gently as he could. As he ran, using his shield to protect them from further attacks, Bucky mumbled against his chest. “Just leave me, Steve, I’m as good as dead, just let me go,” “Don’t you dare say that, jerk,” Steve begged, willing himself not to cry. “If you went off the deep end, you know I'd be falling right in after you. You know that.” he kissed his temple as gently as he could while running, and felt the first tear roll down his face. “You wouldn’t dare, you punk,” Bucky mumbled, his head lolling onto Steve’s shoulder as he started to slip into sweet unconsciousness. “Bucky! Bucky, please wake up, please!” As he reached the tower and ran inside, he started shouting for Pepper. “What’s going on?!?” she panicked as she ran around the corner. “Bucky’s been shot, I think he’s unconscious. I'm not sure yet how bad it is but I'm scared." "Stevie? What's going on? I feel weird." "It's alright, Buck, I've got you. You're gonna be fine. Don't you dare give up on me, you hear?"  "Marry me, Stevie," he mumbles, a tired smile crossing his face. "Okay, Buck, I'll marry you, we can go wherever you want on the honeymoon, okay, but please, just get through this first." "Steve, we have to take him to the hospital. Jarvis, can you get the helicopter ready?" "Of course, miss Potts."

 

* * *

Bucky pulls through, thank God.  The bullet had missed all major arteries and veins, and had just barely nicked his left lung. He didn't seem to remember proposing, or Steve's response, so they remained unengaged until one day 6 months later, when Steve got home a bit later than normal. "Hey, Buck?" He called. "Come here a sec, I gotta ask your opinion on something." “Sure, Steve, what is it?” he asked, coming around the corner to stand in front of Steve in his pyjamas, towelling his hair from the shower he’d just stepped out of. Steve chuckled and bit his lip, cursing bad timing- or maybe it was perfect. “What? What did you need my opinion on?” Steve knelt in front of him and pulled out a small box from his jacket pocket. “Yeah- I was wondering what you thought my mother would say if I married a fella..?” And he opened the box, revealing a silver-coloured ring, with black stone set flush with the band. “She'd blow a fuse,” Bucky replied, crouching down to wrap his arms around Steve’s neck and kiss him the way he’d wanted to for decades. "But I think I can live with that." Steve held him close with one arm around his waist and the other tangled in his hair.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Thor insisted in meeting each team, telling them how fearsome warriors such as them would be welcomed with open arms in Asgard.  
> ** "Congratulations, James, he's very lucky" in (Probably bad) Russian  
> ***"I feel lucky to have him" in (equally bad) Russian


	3. Married.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy, a wedding! (Wedding night next chapter- I wanted to get this up ASAP and sex scenes with supersoldiers are difficult.)

The wedding was held the next July in the church Steve and Bucky went to as children (in fact, they met at Sunday School there): St. James’ Basilica. Sam was Steve’s Best Man, Clint was Bucky’s, Tony and Natasha were the witnesses, and Bruce and Thor were groomsmen, leaving very few people actually sitting in the pews of the cathedral. Steve wore white. When it came time for the vows, Bucky went first.

“Steve, you are my very best friend. You’ve always been around to keep me in trouble, and there’s _nowhere_ I’d rather be than in trouble with you. You stole my heart, but not really, because I would have given it to you anyway- and I can’t believe our luck. Waking up, it would have been Hell if it weren’t for you, you of all people know, but through all of this, I can finally make you mine. So I, James Buchanan Barnes, do _finally_ take you, Steven Grant Rogers, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner, and my love, from this day forward. In the presence of God, our found family and our friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful husband in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live. I couldn’t imagine spending it with anyone else. I’m with you ‘till the end of the line. With this ring, I thee wed.” Steve was already crying and grinning stupidly as Bucky slipped the ring onto his finger, a look of immense pride in his eyes. Steve chuckled quietly, wiping his eyes before affirming his intentions, his voice shaking.   
“Bucky, you’ve always been there for me. You loved me when I was nothing, and you’ve always been my everything. I’ve loved and admired you since before I can remember, and you’ve always had my back the way I always want to have yours. Losing you- It almost killed me. Would’ve, in fact, except that I realised you would have wanted me to keep fighting. And I’m so glad I did. I swear to you, I will never let you down.  I, Steven Grant Rogers, do take you, James Buchanan Barnes, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner, and my love, from this day forward. In the presence of God, our found family and our friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful husband in sickness and health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honour and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live. I love you so much, Buck, and I’m so honoured that you’ve allowed me to be with you for the rest of our lives. I’m with you ‘till the end of the line too. With this ring, I thee wed. _Finally._ ”

And he slipped the ring onto Bucky’s right-hand finger (He had wanted to be able to feel it).  “Do any present see any valid reason as to why these two people cannot be joined in holy matrimony?” Total silence. “Then, by the power vested in me by God, I pronounce you Mr. and Mr. Rogers-Barnes. You can kiss him now,” the bishop confided with a smile to Bucky, who had been biting his lip for the entirety of the service except when he was talking. He practically launched himself at Steve, flinging his arms around his neck and crushing their lips together. Steve smiled into the kiss and placed his hands on Bucky’s waist, sighing contentedly.

 


End file.
